Crow
by zimbardooo
Summary: CPCoulter's Daltonverse. Rumour has it that the Brightman twins were born out of chaos; that their hearts pump pure adrenalin; that they aren't entirely human. But two things are certain- Evan and Ethan are twin terrors, and they knew no fear. Until now.
1. Curiouser and Curiouser

_I don't own anything you recognize: the setting is Ryan Murphy's; the allusions are Lewis Carroll's; the characters are CPCoulter's.. But the tune is my own invention._

* * *

><p>Sixteen minutes to curfew. The stillness that had been settling over the grounds of Dalton Academy was punctuated as a door slammed abruptly open and a boy flew down the steps of Hanover House. His prefect's warning still ringing in his ears, Wes tore along the path leading east towards the Windsor dormitories.<p>

Over in his darkened dorm room, wrapped up in his cocoon of whirring gadgets and blinking monitors, Han glanced up from his coding, noticing the movement on one of his screens out of the corner of his eye. He stared at the tapped footage from one of the school security cameras for a moment, his fingers continuing to type unsupervised, before concluding that it was only Wes visiting David again.

His gaze continued to wander between the monitors until something else caught his eye. He stopped typing completely, scooting his chair over to take a closer look. On the display of a second camera he could just make out the figure of a small boy in Dalton uniform, making his way slowly north from the main entrance gate.

He fiddled with the computer, remotely adjusting the settings on the camera to bring the scene into focus, and frowned. The boy's face was not familiar- but then again, Han hadn't actually left his room in over a week.

_Probably a new student_, he concluded, turning back to his coding- but he paused to back up the footage to one of the hard drives. _Just in case_.

* * *

><p>Eleven minutes to curfew. Passing the Main building, Wes put on an extra burst of speed as he hurtled along, skidded around a corner- and crashed headlong into someone else, knocking them both off their feet.<p>

He was the first to recover, leaping up and apologizing, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry- here." He reached out and pulled the other boy to his feet, waving away his muttered thanks and watching him fidget nervously with the cap on his head.

"I am _so _sorry," he repeated, hopping on the spot and peering at the other boy anxiously. "Really, I- wait, I don't think we've met. I'm Wes."

"Laurence," the younger boy offered, extending a hand for Wes to shake. "I'm a transfer student from England- only just arrived. I'm looking for Hanover House."

Wes' eyes lit up. "You're in Hanover? So am I! I can take you there myself, only-" he hesitated, then ploughed on. "I've got to duck over to Windsor really quickly first- do you mind taking a detour?" The new boy shook his head hastily.

"Great! Follow me!" And he bounded off immediately, the other boy tripping and stumbling in his attempt to keep up.

Wes had come this way so often that he barely had to pay attention to the route, but he was surprised to realise that the new boy didn't seem at all fazed by the lavish décor of Windsor House, not batting an eyelid at the antique furniture, the Elizabethan architecture- or even the scorch marks on the ceiling. Before he could muse over this, they had turned the final corner and gone barrelling through a door.

"DAVID, I SWEAR YOU ARE-" Wes skidded to a halt, taking in the room which had clearly been unoccupied until their arrival, "-apparently not here," he finished lamely. "Well. This complicates things."

"It's okay, you go look for him," the new boy offered quickly.

Wes' eyes lit up in gratitude and he started for the door, throwing a hurried thanks over his shoulder. Then he stopped abruptly and turned back, a hint of apprehension in his expression.

"This might seem a little odd, but I'm going to lock you in this room. I don't know how much you've heard about Windsor, but trust me when I say it's for the best. I'll be back in a minute- _don't go anywhere_!" And before the other could do so much as open their mouth he had bounded out, the door clicking resolutely shut behind him.

* * *

><p>"DAVID MICHAEL SULLIVAN, <em>WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY GAVEL?"<em>

Evan and Ethan stepped neatly back into an alcove as Wes hurtled past them, clearly intent on his search-and-destroy mission. As he thundered away down the corridor, the two traded bemused glances, noticing that Wes had locked the door. That meant he thought it would keep people out, and _that _meant that he clearly needed to be reminded of the legendary Brightman lock-picking skills.

In a matter of seconds the door had swung silently open, the twins slipping inside and closing it softly behind them. They turned to survey the room and immediately picked up on the one thing out of place- there was a boy standing in the middle of the room and, from the way his gaze was flitting around nervously, he was new.

The two watched as the new boy walked over to the massive featurewindow that dominated David and Blaine's dorm room and stared out of it, looking towards where the twinkling lights of Hanover House would just be visible in the distance. He seemed to be judging the distance to the ground, looking for an escape route and realizing as the twins had before him that at five metres up, jumping was pretty much out of the question.

But what was he doing there? He _must _be new, as neither boy recognised him and they made it their business to know all of Dalton's goings on- and yet new students neverarrived so late, never looked so lost, were never left so _alone_. This boy must have sneaked in- or rather, he must have been smuggled in. _But by whom_?

David and Blaine were the obvious suspects, as it _was _their room. The March Hare was faithful to his girlfriend, had been for years, and would never dream of doing such a thing. But Blaine, their quiet little White Rabbit-

Their eyes widened in unison as they reached the same conclusion. With growing excitement they advanced silently on the boy, positioning themselves for the ambush. A nod from one sent the plan whirring into motion.

"Hello, Alice,"

* * *

><p><em>Trying to do justice to CPCoulter's creations is kind of daunting, but I hope I haven't totally messed up.. This will probably end up being a four-part story by the time it's finished, but in the meantime reviews would be very much appreciated (and I will love you forever, seriously).<em>


	2. The Wrong Alice

_The list of people I am not includes (but is not limited to) Ryan Murphy, CPCoulter and Lewis Carroll. The list of things I do not own includes (but is not limited to) Glee, Fox, Dalton, the Warblers, Alice in Wonderland, identical blond twins and an inflatable landing pad._

* * *

><p>"Hello, Alice,"<p>

The boy stifled a shriek, whipping around hastily to find the source of the unexpected voice and soon tracing it to the tall, blond boy currently grinning down at him from his perch on the windowsill to his left.

"Wha-?"

"Welcome to Wonderland," a voice added from behind, and he spun again to see an identical boy- _or was it the same one?_- smirking at him as he leant casually against the wall to the right of the window.

The boy turned slowly to face the door of the room- which was still shut and, apparently, locked. Frowning, he started back towards the window. _Maybe it wasn't too high to jump from after all._ He was barely surprised when the twins materialized in front of him, barring his way.

"Why are you here?" he blurted out, unable to help himself. The two brothers cracked identical grins as they pretended to think.

"Ah, the age-old philosophical question.. But I hardly think we should be the ones answering it. Nohow!"

"Contrariwise," the other boy continued, "One might just as well ask- why are _you _here?"

"You're mad," he said bluntly.

"But of course," the first twin answered pleasantly. "We're all mad here."

The boy felt that this could not be denied, so he tried another question.

"Who are you?"

The twins' grins broadened as they replied.

"Evan."

"Ethan."

He nodded absentmindedly, adjusting the cap on his head and wondering where to go from here now that Wes had disappeared. He could always ask for directions, he supposed, but there was no telling how helpful- or, more likely, _unhelpful_- the twins were going to be.

"Are you lost, Alice?" Evan asked curiously.

"In a manner of speaking," he began nervously, deciding to take a chance on the brothers. "I'm looking for Julian Bancroft. Is he around here?"

The twins' eyes lit up, but he got the odd impression that they hadn't actually registered the name he had mentioned.

"Well, if he was so, he might be-" Ethan began.

"And if he were so, he would be-" Evan continued.

"-But as he isn't, he ain't!" the two chorused happily.

_Well, that's logic_, he thought to himself. But could the twins be trusted? And even if they spoke the truth and Justin wasn't there- then what? It was already late, and the longer he was delayed, the more likely he was to be discovered. He opened his mouth to speak without really knowing what he was going to say, but was spared the trouble.

"You've begun wrong," Ethan declared. "The first thing in a visit is to say 'How d'you do?' and shake hands!"

The twins beamed widely at the smaller boy, extending their hands. He made no move to take them, but stood before them, looking from one to the other. His expression was more impatient than the utter bewilderment they were accustomed to seeing.

"Look, I appreciate the gesture, but I really should be going. Would you mind telling me how to get to-"

"Maybe we should recite a poem," Ethan cut in.

The boy's eyes widened and he began to shake his head frantically as Evan continued, his eyes twinkling, "You like poetry?"

"It has its merits, _occasionally_," he answered warily. "But right now I really have to go-"

"What shall we repeat to him?" Ethan interrupted blithely.

"Really, it's been great, but I've got to-"

Evan winked at his brother. "The Walrus and the Carpenter is the long-"

"_I NEED TO GET TO HANOVER HOUSE_!"

The twins exchanged surprised glances, and Ethan shook his head. "Oh, no, no, that can't be. You're not supposed to go to Marmoreal for at least another chapter!"

"Unless.." Evan trailed off, staring meaningfully at his brother, whose eyes widened. One twin nodded, the other shook his head insistently. The first made an impatient hand gesture, while the second wrinkled his nose and tilted his head. Blond eyebrows waggled; blue eyes rolled in response. The brothers heaved matching heavy sighs, blowing identical fringes out of their eyes before turning back to the boy who, during the silent exchange, had been moving towards the window again.

"You'd better come with us," they announced together, and without pause to let the other protest or even turn around properly, they leapt forward, seized him by the arms, and frog-marched him backwards out of the room.

* * *

><p>The twins broke into a run upon reaching the corridor. The boy in the middle attempted to jog backwards between them, but soon found his legs swept out from beneath him as he was lifted bodily from the ground and carried along. The trio sped down a flight of stairs and along another corridor and <em>blimey, <em>it really _was _just like falling. He saw heads poke out curiously from doorways as they flew past, and such strange things whizzed by- there was a croquet mallet and a sculpture of an insect that seemed to be made from bread and butter, and what looked like half a tonne of sheet music fluttering to the ground, and- was that a large plush bandersnatch?

A sudden explosion rattled the building just ahead, and the boy coughed violently as they passed through the resultant cloud of smoke pouring from one of the rooms, narrowly dodging a fire-extinguisher thrown from the doorway opposite.

They continued on a little longer before turning a sharp corner, and he found himself being thrown down onto a soft white lounge. The twins stood towering over him, and he stood quickly to slightly lessen their considerable height advantage.

"So, _Alice_."

"..Yes?" He answered hesitantly.

"He answers to Alice!" One twin announced to the other. "That _proves_ his guilt!"

"What?" the boy blinked up at them, not even trying to conceal his confusion at their sudden change in approach. "My name isn't even Alice!"

"That only makes the matter worse. You _must _have meant some mischief, or else you would have answered to your own name like an honest man!"

Realising that arguing against their logic would be futile, he sat back down wearily.

"Fine. Consider your verdict."

"Not yet, not yet!" the twins chanted excitedly, cutting him off.

"There's a good deal to come before that," Evan informed the other boy, before adding, "Ethan, read the accusation!"

"Following your abrupt appearance in Wonderland, you were found in the room of the White Rabbit and responded to the name 'Alice' in a transparent attempt to ingratiate yourself with the local population," Ethan recited grandly.

The accused frowned at this, but did not bother protesting.

"You then endeavoured to make your way to Hanover house, where by all indications you intended to wreak further havoc. But here you were thwarted," he paused, fixing the other boy with a triumphant stare, "-for we have seen through your web of lies!"

"You came with the March Hare, not the White Rabbit, and you weren't late but ten minutes early!" Evan interjected, his grim tone suggesting that he thought being early should be an offence punishable by death.

"You're not Alice at all. You're the Wrong Alice. You're an imposter!" Ethan concluded dramatically, reaching forward and plucking the pretender's cap from his head for emphasis.

The next moment, both twins had leapt back, staring in shock at the cascading waves of blond hair they had inadvertently released.

"You're.. a flower," Ethan observed weakly once he had recovered enough to speak. "A talking flower."

"I most certainly am not!" the girl scowled.

"No, I don't think she is," Evan said thoughtfully, circling around her as he sized her up. "She's an awkward shape- not much stem, and her petals are all over the place."

The girl's mouth dropped open in indignation and he added hastily, "But that's not your fault. One can't help one's petals getting a little untidy now and then."

"Whatever," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "Are you going to help me get to Hanover or not?"

"No, I don't think we will," Ethan replied, folding his arms. "You haven't told us what you want with them, and the Hanovers lack the combat training needed to deal with intruders. Also, you're a girl."

"And in any case, you wouldn't want to go to Marmoreal," Evan added sagely, trading knowing looks with his brother. "The White Queen has a bad habit of stifling the flowers."

The girl let out a growl of annoyance before standing abruptly. "You know what? Fine. I don't need your help to get to Hanover." She made to leave the room but the twins blocked her path, smiling obnoxiously at her frustration.

"Actually," Evan said calmly, "I think you'll find you do. You see, all the buildings on the grounds are locked at ten, and it is now seventeen past. And while most students here can break into their own dormitories, only we have the skills to break into whichever building we want."

A derisive snort escaped her. "You really think that?" Her tone was a little harsher than she had intended, but patience had never really been her strongest suit.

"Our talents are unrivalled by anyone on campus. Or off," Evan added, looking pointedly at her.

"Little girls have nothing on us," Ethan smirked, destroying all semblance of subtlety.

Her eyes narrowed. "Was that a challenge?"

Ethan looked her up and down critically. "Barely," he concluded smugly.

"You'd better run along now, little girl," Evan added. "It's past curfew, and flowers aren't supposed to be on campus. Not even funny shaped ones like you."

They stood together in front of the door, arms folded casually and identical smirks on their faces. To their surprise, the girl did not attempt to push past them, but instead stalked off in the opposite direction. At the window she turned suddenly.

"You think you're so good," she hissed, and they started back instinctively at the venomous tone of her voice. "You think you're invincible. Well, you may be playing on home ground, but I have my own advantages."

"Like what?" Ethan asked, genuinely curious.

A small smirk spread over her face as she answered, "Surprise." And with that, she leant back and tumbled backwards out of the window. There was a soft _floomph _from below and they realised, their mouths dropping open slightly, that her fall would have been broken by the inflatable landing pad they had left outside.

"Not bad for a little girl," Evan remarked absently, and Ethan could only nod, reluctantly impressed, as they watched her disappear into the darkness.


	3. As the Crow Flies

_I have seven assessments in the next week and I have no idea why I am still writing this. I do, however, know that I own neither Glee nor Dalton._

* * *

><p>"Hi Wes!"<p>

Halfway down to breakfast. Wes was forced to grab the banister to avoid another collision with the new boy from last night, who had somehow appeared out of nowhere on the step below him.

"Laurence, hey-" he began, but was cut off almost immediately.

"I need to talk to you. Do you have a minute?" Before Wes could so much as blink, he found himself being dragged back upthe stairs and into a darkened dorm room, the door slamming shut behind them.

"What on earth-" he rubbed his eyes, wondering if he were still dreaming.

"Wes?" came a bewildered but familiar voice from the darkness in front of him.

"..David?" And at last, the lights flickered on to reveal not only David but also Reed, Joshua, Blaine and Logan scattered around the room, looking just as confused as he felt.

"What the hell is going on?" Logan demanded of the small boy who had swept into the room after Wes.

"I am declaring war on the Brightman twins," he replied without preamble. His tone was casual, as though this was something he did regularly. "You, as those who know them best, are going to assist me in targeting their weaknesses and striking when they are most vulnerable."

The others gaped at him. Wes closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _This had to be a dream. There was no way this could really be happening_. He opened his eyes to find everyone frozen in the same position as before, still staring in shock. _Well then_.

"Who areyou?" Joshua asked eventually.

"The Wrong Alice, apparently. Laura Bancroft," the boy clarified.

Wes' intrigue at the Wonderland title was overridden as he attempted to process the name. "Bancroft?" he repeated, stunned.

"Well, yes. Justin's my brother."

"_Laura_?" Reed managed to choke out.

"Oh, right." And without further ado, Laurence- _Laura_- pulled the cap from her head and shook a mane of long blonde curls free. The boys' mouths dropped open as they blinked disbelievingly, and Reed actually toppled off his chair with a small shriek.

_Even Windsor's crazy has nothing on this, _Wes thought faintly. Laura looked rather pleased with their reaction.

"Right, well, getting down to business-"

"What makes you think we'll help you?" Logan interrupted.

"Because you want to be on the winning side," she answered simply.

"You're very confident about your chances," Blaine observed, making an impressive attempt at keeping his voice neutral.

Laura blinked at him as if she hadn't actually stopped to consider an alternative outcome. "Of course. Because while I have multiple sources of information on their typical tactics and strategies," she paused to gesture around the room, and the boys realised that there was no way they were going to get out of helping her now, "they know nothing about me or how I operate."

"That's probably not true," Wes said thoughtfully. "They have their ways of finding things out. At the very least, they'll know your name by now." Blaine groaned at this, muttering something about a Caterpillar under his breath as the other boys snickered at his obvious discomfort.

"Why are you so worked up about this?" Joshua asked curiously. "It's not like they actually attacked you or anything.."

"It's a matter of pride," she answered lightly, the flash of steely determination in her eyes belying her casual tone. Each of the boys recognised the warning sign from their own sisters, girlfriends, mothers, and shrank back accordingly, forcefully reminded of the vengeance it foretold. Wisely, none of them protested any further.

"First item of business," she fished out a tiny golden key from the pocket of her Dalton slacks. "Anyone know what this opens?"

The boys passed it around, examining it curiously but shaking their heads. It was Logan who finally spoke up.

"Might be the key to their secret weapons cache," he offered nonchalantly. The others stared at him.

"What sort of weapons are we talking about?" Laura asked.

"The usual. Nerf guns, air rifles, paintballs, maybe a super-soaker or two.." Logan paused, watching her note this down. "You'll want to get that key back to them soon, or they'll notice it's gone."

She looked up, smirking. "One step ahead of you," she announced, pulled several identical keys from her pocket. He raised an eyebrow, impressed, but said nothing.

"Next item: weaknesses."

There was a long silence, during which Laura looked around at them expectantly. The boys traded uneasy glances, not knowing how best to break the news to her.

"I hate to say this," David finally spoke up, "but I'm not sure they have any."

Laura stared at them incredulously. "Not one? No phobias, exploitable habits, irrational fears, Achilles heels, nothing?"

They shook their heads, watching her warily.

She paced back and forth before them, muttering furiously under her breath, finally bursting out, "There's got to be _something _that those two are scared of!"

The boys considered this for half a second, then snorted.

"No. No way. Absolutely not."

She whirled around so suddenly that they started back as one, cowering away at the dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Then I shall become it."

* * *

><p>The two Brightmans strode unhurriedly down the fourth floor corridor, their eyes fixed on a door ahead. When they were halfway down the hallway, the LED screen mounted on the door started flashing red, and words began to appear on the display.<p>

"Tweedles," the brothers chorused together before the machine could even finish scrolling through its sentence. Ahead of them, the screen flashed green and the door hissed open, spilling a thick cloud of swirling white vapour out into the corridor. The gas dispersed as they reached the doorway and disappeared through it without once breaking their stride.

In the centre of the room, a boy's figure was silhouetted in black against the bright computer displays lining the walls. As the twins approached, he swivelled around in his computer chair, smiling benevolently up at them.

"Tweedles," Han greeted them. "What can I do for you?"

"We're looking for a girl," Ethan cut straight to the point.

Han's eyebrows shot up. "That is somewhat beyond my area of expertise-"

"On campus," Evan clarified. "She's passing off as a transfer student. Arrived just before curfew, a few nights ago. Have you seen anything?"

Han was typing before Ethan had even finished speaking. In a few seconds, he had retrieved the security footage from the previous night, playing it for the twins to see. When the intruder's face came into view he paused the recording and looked up.

"That's her," Evan confirmed grimly.

Han nodded thoughtfully and resumed his clicking, opening a program on one of the monitors and dragging the security footage over to it. A photo of the girl's face filled the screen; Han clicked again, and a number of bright green dots appeared over her face as the twins watched, fascinated.

He swivelled in his chair, bringing up a folder full of school photos on a second monitor. Another click, and similar sets of green dots appeared on each of the Dalton boys' faces, the machine humming as it processed its orders. A pop-up window materialised, notifying the three watching of the scan's progress as the students' photos flickered rapidly on the screen, each picture flashing for only the briefest of moments before being replaced by the next.

_They must be ordered by class, _Evan noted. _Yes- those were the freshmen, and the sophomores, and-_

The machine beeped suddenly and the twins jumped, craning their necks and staring at the screen where the photo of a Hanover junior was frozen in place next to that of the intruder. And now that they thought about it, the girl _had_ born a remarkable resemblance to-

"Justin Bancroft," Evan breathed softly.

Ethan frowned. "Which makes the girl-"

"-Laura, Laura Bancroft," Han mumbled, scrolling through an absurdly detailed file containing what appeared to be the Hanover student's personal information.

"Laura Bancroft," Ethan repeated slowly, as if testing out the sound of the name. He stole a sideways glance at his brother, the corners of his lips twitching upwards.

"Welcome to Wonderland."

* * *

><p>Wes was late to study hall that morning. After making his excuses to the teacher in charge, he made his way over to where the Windsors were sitting, dropping a letter onto his desk with feigned carelessness.<p>

"What's that?" Ethan asked at once, looking up from where he and Evan had been idly attempting to curl their hair around their pens with the aid of the small amount of gel which they had siphoned from the heads of those nearby.

"For the Tweedles," Wes recited wryly. "An invitation from one Laura Bancroft to discus the terms of war."

Ethan raised an eyebrow, but took the envelope and passed it to his brother. "From one Laura Bancroft. An invitation for the Tweedles to discus the terms of war."

Evan raised both eyebrows, but took the envelope and tore it open. The two bent their heads together in order to read simultaneously, and the other boys were forced to stifle their sniggers when their curls became entangled.

The note read as follows:

_Tweedles,_

_Tumtum tree, 12pm._

_Absence will be considered surrender._

It was not signed with a name, but with a drawing of a black bird. The twins considered it for a moment, puzzled.

"Why has she signed it as a raven?"

"Maybe she's like a writing desk."

Evan smirked. "What, because she can produce a few notes, but they're very flat? Or because she has inky quills?"

"No.." Ethan sniggered, "Because you can't just ride her like a bicycle!"

Evan stared at him for a second, and then both boys collapsed, howling and choking and thumping their desks, in fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Wes, impatient with their antics, leaned over and snatched the note off them. His eyes widened in alarm as he read it, and when he finished he smacked the two over their identical blond heads.

"You idiots," he hissed, "that's no raven. It's a crow."

The twins sat bolt upright, the smirks wiped clean off their faces.

"A crow, hm?" Evan murmured. "We'll see about that, little bird."

* * *

><p>The lunch bell rang, and the twins gathered up their things before moving out of the room. They wandered silently across the courtyard before sitting down against the appointed tree. There was a long pause before Evan finally spoke.<p>

"You can come down now, little bird. We know you're up there."

There was a soft thump as Laura Bancroft dropped to the ground in front of them, folding her arms and scowling. Ethan raised an eyebrow at the Dalton uniform she was wearing, but made no comment.

"So," she began. "Have you decided to surrender?"

The twins exchanged glances before Ethan answered, a hint of amusement evident in his tone. "That wasn't quite what we had in mind, no."

"Then why are you here?"

"We find your theatrics amusing," Evan said, smiling up at her in what was obviously meant to be a patronising manner.

Laura's eyes flashed dangerously. "You're not taking this seriously."

"Should we be?"

She knew they were deliberately trying to provoke her, but couldn't help reacting.

"Yes!" she snapped. "I know your type. You've had a few years to build up your reputation, and you think you've got everything figured out. But let me ask you this- when was the last time you were challenged?"

"Uh," Ethan paused, trying to remember.

"-Never!" Laura concluded for him, smiling triumphantly. "No-one has ever challenged you before, so it's entirely likely that you've become complacent about your prowess. And that is where I come in."

"And what are you proposing, exactly?" Evan asked levelly.

"I can help you," she told them, her tone suddenly businesslike. "The two of you have potential, but unless you get your acts together-"

She broke off, scowling in irritation as the twins fell to the ground in renewed fits of laughter. For the second time that morning they clutched at each others' arms, gasping for breath between howls of hysteria. Ethan sounded as if he was choking, and Evan looked close to tears.

"The alternative," Laura continued loudly, pointedly ignoring their antics, "-is war."

"We'll take that then," Ethan decided once he had recovered enough to reply. He and his brother clambered to their feet and dusted themselves off, preparing to leave.

Laura raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. "Are you really ready for war?"

"As we'll ever be," Evan shrugged. "But are you really ready for this?"

In a move perfected by years of practice the twins simultaneously reached into their blazer pockets, pulling out identical Nerf guns with a smooth flourish and, before she could react, shooting her decisively in the head. Matching smirks spread across their faces as the bullets pinged neatly off her face and fell to the ground.

"Didn't think so."

Her cheeks, already smarting red from the impact of the foam, flushed further as her anger grew. The twins, still smirking, turned their backs on her, slinging their weapons carelessly over their shoulders and ambling away. Behind them, her eyes narrowed.

Evan and Ethan stopped dead in their tracks upon hearing the muffled splatters and feeling something impacting the smalls of their backs. Their eyes widened as they turned slowly to each other, eying the creamy white paint staining the backs of their dark blazers almost like- _bird droppings._

They started back towards the tree immediately, swinging their Nerf guns around in preparation for a return assault, only to find that Laura had already vanished.

"Evan," Ethan said, his gaze still fixed on the tree, "I think we need to up our game."

* * *

><p><em>Reviews and feedback would be much appreciated; alternatively, if you could copy and paste the following comment:<em>

_WHY AREN'T YOU WRITING YOUR ASSIGNMENTS?_

_I AM AN INTERNET STRANGER AND I AM JUDGING YOU_

_DO YOUR WORK, YOU INCOMPETENT HUMAN_

_to the review box, that'd be swell too._


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